


people say friends don't destroy one another

by debacle



Category: Marvel 616, X-Factor (Comics)
Genre: M/M, bad decision making, implied past ricstar, mopey drunk brotouching: the musical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2012-11-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 11:25:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/560528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debacle/pseuds/debacle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie can't think of a good reason to do it, but he also can't think of a good reason to stop, so he doesn't. And isn't that just like him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	people say friends don't destroy one another

**Author's Note:**

> For Indy. I hate you and I hope you're happy. 
> 
> This probably takes place in some nebulous time after #13. I have stopped trying to make it actually fit anywhere.

Jamie is not exactly sure what's going on. He's a little fuzzy on the details, fuzzy on everything, really. He's really, really drunk, is what he's saying. Really drunk and kissing someone he shouldn't be kissing, which is starting to become a theme with him, isn't it?

_I wouldn't kick Rictor out of my bed_. That was – that was a joke. He was _kidding_. But here they are, and the only excuse he's got is that they're both drunk as hell. Jamie's not drunk enough to not be a little bit weirded out by it (it's probably the stubble that makes it weird, he thinks, since Ric's too busy being sad and angry about everything to shave regularly), but he's definitely drunk enough that the strangeness isn't enough to make him stop.

He's pretty sure he's straight – most of him, anyway, dupes aside – and he's never actually, you know, done anything with a guy. As far as he remembers, anyway. His memory isn't all that reliable anymore, so, really, who the hell knows? Doesn't matter too much, he can worry about it later – this is probably not the best time to have a sexuality crisis. He's a grown man. He can – he can make out with a dude if he wants to. Or if he's drunk enough.

Either way.

 

 

Okay. Back up.

It's a couple of hours earlier and Jamie's a bit conflicted. Ric's drinking again, so he must be having a bad day – that's what Terry said, that Ric drinks when he's feeling down ( _when isn't he_ is what Jamie wanted to know, and Terry made this face like that was her point exactly). Jamie's still piecing together the whole leadership thing, and the pieces are sort of falling apart, honestly.

What kinda leader lets his team get in this kinda shape? A terrible one, he figures. What was it Samson said?

_You're in charge now._

_People are counting on you._

Jamie doesn't know what to do with those kinds of expectations. He never wanted this but here it is, and he's gotta start doing better, or the team's going to crumble even faster.

So he figures he should say something. It's just that he doesn't know Ric as well as some of the others, and no one seems to be able to get through to him, not even Terry, so there's probably no point in trying. Then again, if he's going to be a decent leader, he's gotta take some kind of interest in his team's well-being.

He's probably going to get punched in the face. Still, worth a shot.

Ric's slumped on the couch like he's half-dead, which is how he looks most of the time. He looks up at Jamie without actually moving his head. When he finally speaks, the only thing he says is, "What."

Jamie sits down, as safe a distance from Ric as he can be without making it look like Ric's got the plague and Jamie's trying to console him in his final hours without catching anything. "What's up, man?"

"Nothin' new," Ric says. "Same old shit, you know? Nothin' changes, nothin' gets better."

"At least it's not getting worse."

"Doesn't have to, 's plenty bad already." Ric takes a long drink and stares at the ceiling. "Look, Madrox, if you're here to make me feel better, I can already tell you it ain't gonna work. Might as well save yourself the time."

Jamie sighs. He's already accepted the futility of this endeavor, and as much as he knows better he's starting to feel like Ric's got the right idea. "I'm not here to make you feel better," he says. "I'm here to drink."

So he does.

 

 

Fast forward, and Jamie's drunk and Ric's drunker and Jamie's trying to mentally retrace the steps between picking up the bottle and their current state, in which Jamie is lying back and Ric is – well, Ric's sort of, uh, on top of him. Kissing him. It's fine. It's – it's not bad, really.

Retracing the steps isn't really working. It's all a bit hazy. They were talking – complaining mostly, although neither of them was making any real attempt to empathize. Honestly, it seemed like they were both trying to one-up each other's misery.

Jamie's almost thankful they're not talking anymore. The one time he tries to say something Ric tells him to _shut the fuck up_ and _bites_ him so Jamie shuts the fuck up.

It's sloppy and a little awkward and not affectionate at all. Jamie can't think of a good reason to do it, but he also can't think of a good reason to stop, so he doesn't. And isn't that just like him?

There's something desperate in the tension in Ric's body, and he doesn't look at Jamie at all. It's almost like he's pretending – no, nope, Jamie's not gonna go there.

This is a mess. Not literally – well, not yet, the potential is certainly there – but still. Jamie's glad the door is closed, at least – they're already probably going to avoid each other like the plague for weeks, the last thing they need is someone else knowing about it. Jamie, at least, still has Terry and Monet pissed at him, and this? This would not improve things.

Jamie figures he'll run out of bad decisions to make, eventually.

Ric sits back on his knees, something sad in his expression, but it disappears after a split-second. In its place is something that looks a bit like determination, and Ric is undoing the button on Jamie's jeans and looking him in the eye, and Jamie – Jamie doesn't stop him. 


End file.
